But the defense attorney for former Lackawanna County assistant public defender Ken Andrew Kovaleski said the now 18-year-old's accounts don't match.

Mr. Kovaleski's alleged victim took the stand first Monday and was the only witness questioned after the 12-person jury was seated before Judge Margaret Bisignani Moyle.

The former public defender is accused of raping her when she was 15. She told authorities the sexual assaults continued between June 2011 and July 2012. Police charged Mr. Kovaleski in July 2012 with nine counts, including felony rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault and child endangerment.The Times-Tribune does not identify sexual assault victims.

In testimony, Assistant District Attorney MariClare Hayes asked if the girl could have screamed for help. The answer was no.

"I was immediately scared to death," she said. "I woke up out of my sleep with someone's hand on my mouth."

She said the first time Mr. Kovaleski woke her in the night, he raped her. She said she threatened to tell, but he countered that no one would believe her. In later assaults, he touched her and masturbated in front of her. When asked about the time frame of the abuse, the young woman said she was unsure of exact dates.

"I didn't try to remember those things," she said, trailing off.

After the second assault, she said she threatened to tell again.

"He told me that it was too late," she said. "You couldn't test for anything anymore."

After Mr. Kovaleski learned of her involvement with another boy, she said things changed. The next time he entered her room, she said he "grabbed her by the throat."

"It struck a fear in me that I've never had before," she said. "The touches had never been vicious."

She reported him to police in Forest City, hoping it was far enough away to outdistance his connections as an attorney and former assistant public defender.

Mr. Kovaleski's attorney, Todd Henry, disputed the idea, saying his position in the public defender's office didn't "have the sway."

"If he did, we wouldn't be here," Mr. Henry said.

He pointed to a lack of pattern in the assaults, which the victim claimed stopped for several months and then began again. He questioned how the traumatic events had not impacted her grades. He also questioned why she had not told anyone for more than a year, listing friends at school, guidance counselors and friend's parents.

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